JACKASS NUMBER TWO

SYNOPSIS:Jackass Number Two reunites prankster masochists extraordinaire Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O and Chris Pontius for another series of death defying audience dividing skits and stunts. Watch as the boys are mauled by bulls and bitten by snakes, to brush off the pain and wash it down with a cold bottle of beer. When they aren't lining themselves up to experience the next pinch in an excruciating self-prescribed catalogue of pain, they are testing the limits of taste: no ejaculate or excretion goes ignored. Oh, and there is a musical number too.

Review by Joel Meares:Jackass Number Two is a difficult film to conventionally appraise. There is little to which one might compare it, aside from its predecessor, on any artistic grounds. The format of the film renders it unique, as do the lengths to which its stars will go for a gag. Cinematography, script, and sound design are of course irrelevant. What matters is whether the film elicits laughter, and this it does expertly and frequently. Interestingly though, what holds Jackass together and makes it very watchable is something we look for in all movies: character.

The Jackass guys are a likable motley crew, putting themselves on the line time and time again for their audience's entertainment. Their scallywag nature means they are infinitely more forgivable when they go too far (see horse semen bit). It is hard not to like Steve-O for instance, who puts a giant fishhook through his cheek and is cast off a boat into shark-infested waters as bait. The only reason I can see for a man to do this is so that we might amuse ourselves later wondering what that reason might be. Sacrifice is key here and the results are very funny. There are encounters with bulls, giant bloodthirsty anacondas and one lucky leech is introduced to Mr O's eyeball. Credit must go to "comedians" so dedicated to their craft.

Wit can be found in the madness too. Spike Jonze and Knoxville are hilarious as an unselfconscious elderly pair, offending their way through the streets of LA. A politically aware skit about terrorism, while never as funny as one imagines it was intended to be, nonetheless shows the guys can move their minds away from the arses every now and then. Not everything works, much will offend and many will decry their mantra of hey, "It's footage." The bottom line with Jackass Number Two is as it was for Jackass Number One. If you are susceptible to its faecally-focused charms, chances are you will have a frolicking good time with it. If not, you have been warned.